Surgical apparatus including surgical buttress

ABSTRACT

An end effector for a surgical stapling apparatus is provided which includes an anvil assembly and a surgical buttress. The anvil assembly includes an anvil body and an anvil plate. The anvil plate includes a bottom surface that defines a plurality of staple forming pockets. The anvil body and the anvil plate are selectively connectable. The surgical buttress includes a buttress body and a plurality of arms extending from the body. The arms are disposable between a top surface of the anvil plate and a bottom surface of the anvil body to support the buttress body against the bottom surface of the anvil plate when the anvil plate and the anvil body are connected to one another.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/924,804, filed Jun. 24, 2013, which claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/672,888, filed Jul. 18, 2012, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference here.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

This application relates to a surgical apparatus, and more particularly, to a surgical buttress for use with a surgical stapling apparatus during operation of the stapling apparatus to apply a plurality of surgical staples to body tissue.

Background of Related Art

As medical and hospital costs continue to increase, surgeons are constantly striving to develop advanced surgical techniques. Advances in the surgical field are often related to the development of operative techniques which involve less invasive surgical procedures and reduce overall patient trauma. In this manner, the length of hospital stays can be significantly reduced, and, therefore, the hospital and medical costs can be reduced as well.

Although the present disclosure includes, but is not limited to use with endoscopic surgery, endoscopic surgery is one of the truly great advances in recent years to reduce the invasiveness of surgical procedures. Generally, endoscopic surgery involves incising through body walls for example, viewing and/or operating on the ovaries, uterus, gall bladder, bowels, kidneys, appendix, etc. There are many common endoscopic surgical procedures, including arthroscopy, laparoscopy (pelviscopy), gastroentroscopy and laryngobronchoscopy, just to name a few. Typically, trocars are utilized for creating the incisions through which the endoscopic surgery is performed. Trocar tubes or cannula devices are extended into and left in place in the abdominal wall to provide access for endoscopic surgical tools. A camera or endoscope is inserted through a relatively large diameter trocar tube which is generally located at the naval incision, and permits the visual inspection and magnification of the body cavity. The surgeon can then perform diagnostic and therapeutic procedures at the surgical site with the aid of specialized instrumentation, such as, forceps, cutters, applicators, and the like which are designed to fit through additional cannulas. Thus, instead of a large incision (typically 12 inches or larger) that cuts through major muscles, patients undergoing endoscopic surgery receive more cosmetically appealing incisions, between 5 and 10 millimeters in size. Recovery is, therefore, much quicker and patients require less anesthesia than traditional surgery. In addition, because the surgical field is greatly magnified, surgeons are better able to dissect blood vessels and control blood loss. Heat and water loss are greatly reduced as a result of the smaller incisions. In order to address the specific needs of endoscopic and/or laparoscopic surgical procedures, endoscopic surgical stapling devices have been developed and are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,715 (Green, et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,976 (Olson, et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,023 (Green, et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,221 (Green, et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,326,013 (Green, et al.); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,142 (Robinson, et al.).

In many surgical procedures, including those involved in open and endoscopic surgery, it is often necessary to staple tissue. It is especially challenging during endoscopic surgery because of the small openings through which the stapling of tissues must be accomplished. Instruments for this purpose can include two elongated members which are respectively used to capture or clamp tissue. Surgical devices wherein tissue is first grasped or clamped between opposing jaw structure and then joined by surgical fasteners are well known in the art. Typically, one of the members carries a fastener cartridge which houses a plurality of staples arranged in at least two lateral rows while the other member has an anvil that defines a surface for forming the staple legs as the staples are driven from the staple cartridge. The fasteners are typically in the form of surgical staples but two part polymeric fasteners can also be utilized. Generally, the stapling operation is effected by cam bars or wedges that travel longitudinally through the staple cartridge, with the cam bars acting upon staple pushers to sequentially eject the staples from the staple cartridge. A knife can travel between the staple rows to longitudinally cut and/or open the stapled tissue between the rows of staples. Such instruments are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,079,606 and 3,490,675.

A later stapler disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,499,591 applies a double row of staples on each side of the incision. This is accomplished by providing a disposable loading unit in which a cam member moves through an elongate guide path between two sets of staggered staple carrying grooves. Staple drive members are located within the grooves and are positioned in such a manner so as to be contacted by the longitudinally moving cam member to effect ejection of the staples from the staple cartridge of the disposable loading unit. U.S. Surgical, the assignee of the present application, has manufactured and marketed endoscopic stapling instruments for several years. Examples of such instruments include the Multifire ENDO GIA™ 30 and Multifire ENDO GIA™ 60 instruments. Other examples of such staplers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,429,695 and 5,065,929.

In staplers of the general type described above, surgical buttress material may be used in combination with these instruments as reinforcement to staple lines to further promote proper staple formation while reducing twisting/malformation caused by any misalignment or unusual or non-uniform tissue. These instruments have provided significant clinical benefits. Nonetheless, improvements are possible, for example, by reducing the complexity of manufacture and/or application.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect, the present disclosure relates to an end effector for a surgical stapling apparatus. The end effector includes an anvil assembly and a surgical buttress. The anvil assembly includes an anvil body and an anvil plate that are selectively connectable. The anvil plate includes a bottom surface that defines a plurality of staple forming pockets. The surgical buttress includes a buttress body and a plurality of arms extending from the body. The surgical buttress may be formed of a non-woven material and may be made from a material selected from the group comprising polyglytone 6211, glycolide, caprolactone, trimethylene carbonate, lactide and combinations thereof.

The arms of the surgical buttress may extend from side edges of the buttress body and may be integrally formed with the buttress body. Notably, the arms of the surgical buttress may be foldable over one or both of a top and a bottom surface of the buttress body. As can be appreciated, the arms are disposable between a top surface of the anvil plate and a bottom surface of the anvil body to support the buttress body against the bottom surface of the anvil plate when the anvil plate and the anvil body are connected to one another. The anvil body defines one or more channels in a bottom surface of the anvil body for the reception of one or more of the arms of the surgical buttress.

According to one aspect, a surgical stapling apparatus includes a first jaw assembly, a second jaw assembly, a plurality of fasteners, and a surgical buttress. The first jaw assembly includes an anvil body and an anvil plate. The anvil plate defines a plurality of fastener forming pockets in a bottom surface thereof. The second jaw assembly includes a fastener cartridge defining a plurality of fastener retaining slots. The plurality of fasteners is disposed within the fastener slots and configured and dimensioned to be formed by the fastener pockets of the anvil plate upon a firing of the stapling apparatus. The surgical buttress includes a buttress body and a plurality of arms extending from the buttress body. As appreciated, the surgical buttress may be formed of a non-woven material and may be made from a material selected from the group comprising polyglytone 6211, glycolide, caprolactone, trimethylene carbonate, lactide and combinations thereof.

The arms of the surgical buttress may be integrally formed with the buttress body and may extend from side surfaces of the buttress body. The arms may be foldable over one or both of a top and a bottom surface of the buttress body. The arms may be disposed between a top surface of the anvil plate and a bottom surface of the anvil body to support the buttress body against the bottom surface of the anvil plate. The anvil body of the first jaw assembly may define one or more channels in the bottom surface thereof for the reception of one or more of the arms of the surgical buttress. The one or more arms may be released from the one or more channels upon a firing of the stapling apparatus.

The surgical stapling apparatus may include a knife assembly including a knife that is movable through one or both of the first and second jaw assemblies to cut one or both of the buttress body and the arms of the surgical buttress to facilitate a release of at least the buttress body from against the bottom surface of the anvil plate.

According to yet another aspect, a method of mounting a surgical buttress to an end effector of a surgical stapling apparatus includes providing an end effector for a surgical stapling apparatus. The end effector includes a first jaw assembly and a second jaw assembly. The first jaw assembly includes an anvil body and an anvil plate. The anvil plate defines a plurality of fastener forming pockets in a bottom surface thereof. The second jaw assembly includes a cartridge defining a plurality of fastener retaining slots for retaining a plurality of fasteners that are formed by the fastener forming pockets upon a firing of the stapling apparatus. The method involves providing a surgical buttress including a buttress body and a plurality of arms extending from the body and mounting the arms of the surgical buttress between a top surface of the anvil plate and the bottom surface of the jaw so that the buttress body is disposed adjacent the bottom surface of the anvil plate.

The method may include the step of positioning the arms of the surgical buttress within channels defined in the bottom surface of the anvil plate. One step may include forming the surgical buttress from a non-woven material. The method may involve forming the surgical buttress from a material selected from the group comprising polyglytone 6211, glycolide, caprolactone, trimethylene carbonate, lactide and combinations thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent in light of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of an endoscopic surgical stapling apparatus in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating an end effector of the presently disclosed surgical stapling apparatus during a fastener applying operation as fasteners are being sequentially fired;

FIG. 3 is another perspective view of the end effector with a surgical buttress secured to an anvil assembly thereof;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the surgical buttress shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a bottom perspective view, with parts separated, of the anvil assembly of the end effector shown in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective view, with parts assembled, of the anvil assembly shown in FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

As used herein, the term “clinician” refers to a doctor, a nurse, or any other care provider and may include support personnel. Particular embodiments of the present disclosure will be described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. As shown in the drawings and as described throughout the following description, and as is traditional when referring to relative positioning on an object, the term “proximal” refers to the end of the apparatus that is closer to the clinician and the term “distal” refers to the end of the apparatus that is farther from the clinician. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail to avoid obscuring the present disclosure in unnecessary detail.

In general, linear staplers, including open and endoscopic devices, can have two elongated members which are respectively used to capture or clamp tissue. Typically, one of the members carries a staple cartridge which houses a plurality of staples arranged in at least two lateral rows while the other member has an anvil that defines a surface for forming the staple legs as the staples are driven from the staple cartridge. Generally, the stapling operation is effected by cam bars that travel longitudinally through the staple cartridge, with the cam bars acting upon staple pushers to sequentially eject the staples from the staple cartridge. A knife can travel between the staple rows to longitudinally cut and/or open the stapled tissue between the rows of staples. Such an instrument is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,914, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Some staplers apply a double row of staples on each side of the incision. This is accomplished by providing a disposable loading unit in which a cam member moves through an elongate guide path between two sets of staggered staple carrying grooves. Staple drive members are located within the grooves and are positioned in such a manner so as to be contacted by the longitudinally moving cam member to effect ejection of the staples from the staple cartridge of the disposable loading unit. An example of such a stapler is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,929, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Some of the instruments described above were designed for use in conventional surgical procedures wherein surgeons have direct manual access to the operative site. However, in endoscopic or laparoscopic procedures, surgery is performed through a small incision or through a narrow cannula inserted through small entrance wounds in the skin. In order to address the specific needs of endoscopic and/or laparoscopic surgical procedures, endoscopic surgical stapling devices have been developed and are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,865,361, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Referring now to the drawings, in which like reference numerals identify identical or substantially similar parts throughout the several views, FIG. 1 illustrates a surgical stapling apparatus 10 that may be arranged for use with minimally invasive (i.e., endoscopic, laparoscopic, etc.) or open stapling procedures. The surgical stapling apparatus 10 includes a housing 20 and an elongate member 30 that extends distally from the housing 20. A distal end of the elongate member 30 supports a proximal end of an end effector 100 that defines a longitudinal axis “L” between proximal and distal ends of the end effector 100. The end effector 100 includes first jaw member or cartridge assembly 102 that is configured to selectively receive a staple cartridge 104 and second jaw member or anvil assembly 110. The cartridge assembly 102 may be a single use loading unit. Indeed, the staple cartridge 104 houses staples and/or other surgical fasteners other than staples. The cartridge assembly 102 and/or the staple cartridge 104 may be selectively replaceable, either individually or collectively.

With reference to FIG. 2, the staple cartridge 104 of the cartridge assembly 102 includes a cartridge housing 106 including a tissue contacting surface 106 a having a plurality of rows of staple retaining slots (also referred to herein as stapler slots and fastener slots) 108 formed therein that house a plurality of fasteners or staples 70. With reference to FIGS. 2 and 6, the plurality of staples 70 may be sequentially formed in fastener forming pockets 124 defined in a tissue contacting surface 120 b of the anvil assembly 110 upon a distal advancement of a cam bar and/or a sled 80 into a plurality of staple pusher members 90 as will be described in greater detail below.

Referring now to FIG. 3, anvil assembly 110 of the end effector 100 includes an anvil plate 120, an anvil body 130, and a surgical buttress 140 (as used herein, “surgical buttress” includes a pledget, gasket, buttress, or staple line reinforcement structure). The anvil assembly 110, or portions thereof, may be disposable or reusable.

As depicted in FIG. 4, the surgical buttress 140 includes a body 142, having a substantially rectangular shape, and a plurality of arms 144. The body 142 and the plurality of arms 144 may be integrally formed or separately attachable. In particular, the surgical buttress 140 includes a first arm 144 a and a second arm 144 b which extend laterally from opposed side edges or surfaces 142 a, 144 b of body 142 at a proximal region of body 142. A third arm 144 c and a fourth arm 144 d extend laterally from opposed side surfaces 142 a, 142 b of body 142 at a distal region of body 142. Of course, any number of arms 144 may be disposed anywhere along the side surfaces 142 a, 142 b of body 142.

One or more of the arms 144 may be disposed transverse or substantially transverse (i.e., non-orthogonal) to a longitudinal axis “L” that extends through the body 142 between the proximal and distal ends of the body 142. As can be appreciated, one more of the arms 144 may be disposed at any suitable angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the body 142 and may extend to any suitable distance from the side surfaces 142 a, 142 b of the body 142. Indeed, one or more of the arms 144 may have any suitable length, width and/or thickness. Any number of the arms 144 may be offset from, and/or aligned with, any number of the other arms 144.

In embodiments, the surgical buttress 140, or portions thereof, may be made from biodegradable materials selected from the following group: natural collagenous materials, cat gut, and synthetic resins including those derived from alkylene carbonates, trimethylene carbonate, tetramethylene carbonate, caprolactone, valerolactone, dioxanone, polyanhydrides, polyesters, polyacrylates, polymethylmethacrylates, polyurethanes, glycolic acid, lactic acid, glycolide, lactide, polyhydroxy butyrates, polyorthoester, polyhydroxy alkanoates, homopolymers thereof, and copolymers thereof. In embodiments, the surgical buttress 110, or portions thereof, may be made from non-biodegradable materials selected from the following group: polyolefins, polyethylene, polydimethylsiloxane, polypropylene, copolymers of polyethylene and polypropylene, blends of polyethylene and polypropylene, ultra high molecular weight polyethylene, polyamides, polyesters, polyethylene terephthalate, polytetrafluoroethylene, polyether-esters, polybutester, polytetramethylene ether glycol, 1,4-butanediol, and polyurethanes. In embodiments, the surgical buttress 140, or portions thereof, may be a non-woven material selected from the group including polyglytone 6211, glycolide, caprolactone, trimethylene carbonate, lactide and combinations thereof.

Turning now to FIGS. 5-6, the anvil body 130 defines a first transverse channel 132 and a second transverse channel 134 therethrough that align with one or more of the arms 144 of the surgical buttress 140 when the surgical buttress 140 is properly aligned with the anvil body 130. The first and second channels 132, 134 are dimensioned to receive one or more arms 144 of the surgical buttress 140 to support the arms 144 of the surgical buttress 140 between the anvil body 130 and the anvil plate 120 while maintaining the body 142 of the surgical buttress 140 positioned adjacent to a bottom or tissue contacting surface 120 b of the anvil plate 120. In particular, the first and second channels 132, 134 are recessed from a bottom surface 130 b of the anvil body 130 and are disposed in a longitudinally spaced apart relationship along the anvil body 130.

Anvil body 130 may include an anvil body securement feature 136 that mates with an anvil plate securement feature 122 to secure the anvil body 130 and the anvil plate 120 together when engaged. As can be appreciated, the one or more securement features may include any suitable mechanical or chemical feature. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 6, a pin 122 a may extend from a top surface 120 a of anvil plate 120 to engage with an aperture 136 a defined within anvil body 130. Other mechanical arrangements may include hook-and-loop fasteners, friction-fit engagement, and/or snap-fit engagement In embodiments, an adhesive and/or a magnetic material may be included on any suitable surface of the anvil body 130 and/or anvil plate 120 to facilitate securement of the anvil body 130 and the anvil plate 120.

Notably, surgical buttress 140, or portions thereof, may be operably connected to the anvil assembly 110, or portions thereof, via any suitable chemical or mechanical feature (e.g., adhesive, magnet, hook-and-loop, snap-fit, straps, threads, welding, etc.).

To assemble, the surgical buttress 140 is positioned adjacent the anvil plate 120 such that the body 142 of the surgical buttress 140 is disposed against/adjacent the bottom surface 120 b of the anvil plate 120, and such that the arms 144 of the surgical buttress 140 are folded around side surfaces 120 c, 120 d of the anvil plate 120 to position the arms 144 along the top surface 120 a of the anvil plate 120. In this regard, the anvil plate 120 may be secured to the anvil body 130 via the securement features 122, 136 so that the arms 144 of the surgical buttress are disposed within the channels 132, 134 between the bottom surface 130 b of the anvil body 130 and the top surface 120 a of the anvil plate 120. Suitably, the anvil plate 120 may be secured to the anvil body 130 prior to the attachment of the surgical buttress 140. In this regard, the surgical buttress 140 is positioned adjacent to the anvil plate 120 so that the arms 144 of the surgical buttress 140 may be inserted within the channels 132, 134 to mount the body 142 of the surgical buttress 140 adjacent to the bottom surface 120 b of anvil plate 120 so that the body 142 of the surgical buttress 140 is disposed in contact with the bottom surface 120 b of the anvil plate 120.

Referring again to FIGS. 5-6, upon proper attachment to the anvil plate 120 and/or the anvil body 130, the body 142 of the surgical buttress 140 may extend between proximal and distal portions of the anvil plate 120. In particular, the body 142 of the surgical buttress 140 may substantially overlie some or all of the fastener forming pockets 124 (FIG. 6) defined in the anvil plate 120.

After clamping the first and second jaw members 102, 110 of the surgical stapling apparatus 10 against tissue of a patient, the surgical stapling apparatus 10 may then be fired to deploy the fasteners 70 through the fastener slots 108 of the staple cartridge 104. Upon firing, the fasteners 70 pass through the fastener slots 108 and the legs of the fasteners 70 penetrate through the tissue clamped by the jaw members 102, 110 and the body 142 of the surgical buttress 140. The fasteners 70 are then formed against the fastener forming pockets 124 of the anvil plate 120, thereby affixing the body 142 of the surgical buttress 140 to the clamped tissue. Concomitantly therewith, a knife (not shown) translatably disposed within the end effector 100 cuts through the tissue clamped between the jaw members 102, 110, through at least a portion of the body 142 of the surgical buttress 140. In certain embodiments, the knife can be configured and arranged to cut through the body 142 prior to firing.

The surgical buttress 140 disengages from the cartridge housing 106 of the staple cartridge 104 so that the body 142 and/or the arms 144 of the surgical buttress 140 may remain attached to the tissue via the fasteners 70. Alternatively, the arms 144 and/or body 142 of the surgical buttress 140 can be cut with shears, or can include perforations or frangible features for separating any suitable portion of the surgical buttress 140 (i.e., arms 144) from other portions of the surgical buttress 140 (i.e., body 142).

If further application or use of a surgical buttress is necessary, a new surgical buttress 140 may be mounted onto the anvil assembly 110, as described above. The user may then repeat a fastening process. It is further contemplated that, if desired, a clinician may remove surgical buttress 140 from anvil assembly 110 prior to a use of surgical stapling apparatus 10.

Alternatively or additionally, any suitable surgical buttress may be positioned on cartridge assembly 102 before or after firing as can be appreciated.

Persons skilled in the art will understand that the structures and methods specifically described herein and illustrated in the accompanying figures are non-limiting exemplary embodiments, and that the description, disclosure, and figures should be construed merely as exemplary of particular embodiments. It is to be understood, therefore, that the present disclosure is not limited to the precise embodiments described, and that various other changes and modifications may be effected by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. Additionally, it is envisioned that the elements and features illustrated or described in connection with one exemplary embodiment may be combined with the elements and features of another without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, and that such modifications and variations are also intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the subject matter of the present disclosure is not to be limited by what has been particularly shown and described. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A surgical stapling instrument having an end effector, comprising: a staple cartridge assembly having a plurality of surgical staples arranged in laterally spaced rows; an anvil assembly including an anvil body and an anvil plate, the anvil plate including a bottom surface defining a plurality of staple forming pockets, the anvil body and the anvil plate being selectively connectable by securement features of the anvil body and the anvil plate, the anvil assembly including channels being defined by the anvil body and recessed from a bottom surface of the anvil body, the channels extending in a lateral direction; and a surgical buttress including a buttress body and a plurality of arms extending from the body, the arms being disposed in and supported by the channels between the anvil plate and the anvil body to support the buttress body against the bottom surface of the anvil plate when the anvil plate and the anvil body are connected to one another.
 2. The surgical stapling instrument of claim 1, wherein the surgical buttress is formed of a non-woven material.
 3. The surgical stapling instrument of claim 2, wherein the surgical buttress is made from a material selected from the group comprising polyglytone 6211, glycolide, caprolactone, trimethylene carbonate, lactide and combinations thereof.
 4. The surgical stapling instrument of claim 1, wherein the arms of the surgical buttress are integrally formed with the buttress body.
 5. The surgical stapling instrument of claim 1, wherein the arms of the surgical buttress extend from side edges of the buttress body.
 6. The surgical stapling instrument of claim 5, wherein the arms of the surgical buttress are foldable over an outer side surface of the anvil plate to facilitate securement of the arms between a top surface of the anvil plate and the bottom surface of the anvil body.
 7. The surgical stapling instrument of claim 1, further comprising a knife that translates through the end effector to cut the surgical buttress. 